07 September 2013

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says Public Advocate Bill de Blasio—the leading Democrat vying to replace him—is running a "racist" campaign because campaign literature highlights his multi-racial family!

"I mean he’s making an appeal using his family to gain support. I think it’s pretty obvious to anyone watching what he’s been doing. I do not think he himself is racist. It’s comparable to me pointing out I’m Jewish in attracting the Jewish vote. You tailor messages to your audiences and address issues you think your audience cares about."

Also in the extensive interview with New York magazine: The bilionaire Bloomberg also slams de Blasio for running a "left-wing" and "class-warfare" campaign ... and claims the city's poor "ain't poor" because they have air-conditioning and cars.

The question you’ve got to ask yourself is, are we spending money to help those that are struggling? We spend $22,000 per year per student. No other city in the country spends that. We have a commitment to having a park within a ten-minute walk of everybody. I don’t think any administration has done as much to help the whole spectrum of people who live here. ...

So if that’s what you describe as income inequality—that’s just not an
apt description. One of the things that’s different today is the poor—80
percent [nationally] have air-conditioning. Seventy percent have cars.
When we grew up we didn’t have air-conditioning. Air-conditioning in the
schools, the subways. Are you crazy? Now, by most of the world’s
standards, you ain’t poor. The old measure just looked at your income.
It didn’t look at what services you need. I’m not being cavalier about
it, but most places in the world our poor are wealthy. There’s a lot of
tragedy around the world.

Bloomberg's heated rhetoric is probably in response to the latest poll numbers which show de Blasio soaring above his rivals in the September 10 primary. de Blasio is polling at 43 percent "an astonishing climb that puts him past the 40 percent threshold needed to avoid a primary runoff," reports the Daily News.

While far out-pacing his next closest rivals Bill Thompson and Christine Quinn — locked in a statistical dead heat at 20 and 18 percent, respectively — de Blasio is also siphoning off votes in what should be their bases of support, the Quinnipiac poll found.

He trounces Quinn — vying to become the city’s first woman mayor — with women, 44 percent to her 18 percent, according to the poll of 750 likely voters. That poll also shows de Blasio drawing nearly double the support from black voters as Thompson, the only African American in the race, with 47% of black voters telling pollsters they back de Blasio and compared to 25% backing Thompson.

18 June 2012

Several thousand demonstrators participated in a silent march on Sunday down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue to protest the New York Police Department’s "stop and frisk" policies. The policies grant officers wide discretion to detain and search pedestrians.

Police officers stopped nearly 700,000 people last year, 87 percent of them black or Latino. Of those stopped, more than half were also frisked. The protest, which began at 3 p.m., followed recent remarks by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg that he planned to scale back and amend the practice, amid escalating protests. Mr. Bloomberg has argued that stop-and-frisk gets guns off the street and reduces crime. The march, which stretched for about 20 blocks, ended at East 78th Street, a block from the mayor’s residence.

As of Friday, 299 organizations had endorsed the march, including unions, religious groups and Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Arab, and Jewish groups. The turnout reflected the growing alliance between civil rights groups and gay and lesbian activists, who in past years have often kept each other at arm’s length. Last month, the board of the N.A.A.C.P., which includes several church leaders, voted to endorse same-sex marriage. The roster of support for the march on Sunday included at least 28 gay, lesbian and transgender groups.

Chris Bilal, 24, who is black and gay, said he had been stopped three times, the last time while dancing with two friends in Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem. “Sometimes I’m targeted as a drug dealer, sometimes as someone interfering with the quality of life, sometimes as a gay African-American man in a place I don’t belong,” he said.

During the 10 years of the Bloomberg administration, the police have performed 4,356,927 stops, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union. Among Black men ages 14 to 24, the number of stops last year was greater than their total population. LGBT youth of color are often "targets of police violence and harassment," the Huffington Post reported last week.

The march's leaders included the NAACP's Benjamin Todd Jealous and the Rev. Al Sharpton. The march was attended by the city's Democratic mayorals—Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, Comptroller John Liu and former comptroller William C. Thompson. Their presence indicates a solidifying opposition to the policy.

28 October 2011

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo delivered the keynote address last night at the Empire State Pride Agenda's annual gala dinner in New York City. The governor "passionately" called for the repeal of Defense of Marriage Act, reports the New York Times.

Mr. Cuomo, who choreographed the successful push this year to win legalization of same-sex marriage, received a standing ovation that lasted for more than a minute from supporters.

And in his most forceful terms to date, Mr. Cuomo called for his counterparts across the country to embrace what he framed as an issue of equal rights and to push for the legalization of same-sex marriage in their own statehouses. "We need marriage equality in every state in this nation," Mr. Cuomo said. "Otherwise, no state really has marriage equality, and we will not rest until it is a reality."

Cuomo received a leadership award presented by New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who said his commitment to passing marriage equality in his first year in office represented a new model for politicians to follow. The governor in turn praised Quinn, an out lesbian and 2013 mayoral frontrunner, saying, "She’s not just a great person. She’s a great leader. And the best is yet to be for Christine Quinn."

The New York Senate passed the historic marriage equality bill on June 24 by a 33-29 vote. New York became the sixth and most populous state granting such rights, joining Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

27 June 2011

The undisputed heavyweight at New York City's Pride Parade: Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Thousands of people lined the parade route with signs thanking the governor for making marriage equality a reality.

On Friday, the New York state legislature voted to legalize same-sex marriage. Cuomo signed the bill late Friday night. It will become the law in 30 days. Marriage equality is now the law in states and the District of Columbia.

Cuomo, Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Sen. Thomas Duane AFTER THE JUMP ...

The Rutgers vigil was attended by nearly 1000 people and included 30 minutes of silence, reports the Star Ledger. Rutgers University President Richard McCormick called the vigil "an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to the values of civility, dignity, compassion and respect for one another."

"It's been a rough week, but it was a beautiful night of healing and compassion," says Rev. Kevin E. Taylor, the New Brunswwick-based pastor, gay activist and author seen in the above photo. "It was necessary to show the campus and the kids that we're there for them."

At the same time across the Hudson River: New York Gov. David A. Paterson and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is openly lesbian, were the keynote speakers at a rally in Manhattan's Washington Square Park. Paterson vowed to pass legislation against cyberbullying and Quinn urged the crowd to "send a message to those ignorant individuals that they're not in the mainstream."

Two Rutgers students are charged with invasion of privacy after they allegedly activated a webcam in the dorm room and broadcast Tyler Clementi's sexual encounter with another young man. The roommate, 18-year-old Dharun Ravi, and 18-year-old Molly Wei are each charged with two counts of invasion of privacy for the September 19 broadcast. Hate crime charges are now being considered against the Rutgers students.

Later today, the Empire State Pride Agenda and the Human Rights Campaign are expected to endorse pro-equality challenger Lynn Nunes, reports gay City News. Nunes who is challenging Huntley in the September 14 Democratic primary and is racking up support and cash

Nunes, a 25-year-old real estate broker, came within four votes of unseating 28th District City Councilman Thomas White, Jr., a 14-year veteran on the Council, in last September’s Democratic primary. Observers of this year’s Senate race ... said that Brooklyn Senator John Sampson, the Democratic Majority Conference leader, has pressured marriage equality advocates not to endorse Nunes. Others have pointed to efforts by Sampson to convince gay groups that Huntley can be brought around on the issue. Prior to last December’s marriage vote, however, the New York Times reported that the senator told the poet Maya Angelou, "If they gave me a million dollars, tax-free, I just wouldn’t vote for it." City Councilman
Daniel Dromm, an out gay Nunes supporter from Jackson Heights, told Gay
City News, “[Huntley's] campaigning against us on this issue.”

Nunes was earlier endorsed by the Lesbian & Gay Democratic Club of Queens, the Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City, and the Jim Owles club. In addition to Dromm, he has support on the City Council from Rosie Mendez, an out lesbian who represents Manhattan’s Lower East Side. [Sources say] City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s ... will endorse Huntley’s challenger in the near future.

Nunes also has more cash—$115,000 on hand versus $46,000 for Huntley, reports Gay City News.

"For those of us
running against incumbents, we need to let the gay community know that
we’re viable, we’re credible and we’re right on the issues," Nunes told The Advocate.
“We don’t have time to waste."

12 June 2010

In New York City, the Ali Forney Center's newly opened shelter for homeless LGBT youth in Queens was defaced with anti-gay graffiti, the group reports via press release.

"At 6am [Thursday] morning, two of the residents of the shelter discovered the
slurs which included; 'We don't want gay people here' written on the
exterior of the shelter, and 'Gay Shelter' written on the site’s door
(see attached JPG). 'I am infuriated that someone would target our kids
in this cowardly way' says Carl Siciliano, Executive Director of the Ali
Forney Center, the nation’s largest organization serving homeless LGBT
youth. 'The young people who come to us for help and shelter have
already experienced terrible hardship, and I will not stand for them to
be further abused.' The Ali Forney Center (AFC) is working with the New
York City Anti-Violence Project, with City Council Speaker Christine
Quinn, and with local Councilmember Peter Vallone on devising strategies
to protect its residents from further attacks."

The Astoria, Queens shelter is housed in a church building rented at low cost
to the AFC by the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island. The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident.

In related news: A previously scheduled rally to mobilize support for New York City's homeless LGBT youth will take place on Monday at 6:30pm in New York City's Union Square. Here is the Facebook page. Please come and help make a difference if you can.

14 April 2010

Six New York City officials, including all four current openly gay city councilmembers, sent a letter (PDF) to the Federal Communications Commission asking for an investigation of recent, homophobic language on the Puerto Rican television show Super Xclusivo broadcast on WAPA América. The crude comments focused on pop star Ricky Martin's coming out, the gay community and Puerto Rican LGBT activist and NGLTF spokesman Pedro Julio Serrano.

Immediately after ... Martin came out, Héctor
Travieso, the host of the show who uses a puppet as a bantering
partner, repeatedly used the word "pato" (fag) to refer to the
singer. When viewers, including Puerto Rican LGBT rights activist Pedro
Julio Serrano, complained, he only upped the ante and defended his
usage of the word arguing that there was nothing bad in calling someone a
"pato".

The furor elicited by his comments, and by references he later made
against Serrano's HIV status and sexuality has kept the
confrontation between Travieso and Serrano in the island newspapers'
front pages. Travieso, who also was the host of a radio show, announced on Thursday
that he would retire from that spot. He also extended a semi-apology to
Serrano and the LGBT community in an
interview that ran yesterday on Primera Hora. No, he did not
apologize for using the word "pato". He only apologized for referring
to the LGBT community as "gentuza", which could be translated as "riffraff", "trashy people" or 'worthless people." "I accept his apologies, but those apologies have to come accompanied by
a change in his behavior," said Serrano to the paper, "He has to stop
the homophobic conduct and stop making fun of the gay community."

The letter is signed by Congresswoman
Nydia M. Velázquez, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and Council
members Danny Dromm, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Rosie Mendez, and Jimmy Van
Bramer. Quinn, Dromm, Mendez, and Van Bramer are openly gay.

The letter (PDF) to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski reads in part: "While
we respect freedom of speech, using anti-gay language in this context
crosses the line and puts the public welfare at risk. New York and
Puerto Rico have both been affected by a number
of high-profile hate crimes in recent months. It is imperative to
stand up against language that can contribute to bigotry." Read the
full letter HERE.

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Illinois State Sen. Iris Martínez, who heads the Democratic National Committee’s Hispanic Caucus and Illinois State Rep. María Berríos [D-Chicago] were among those who met with Jorge Steven López Mercado’s parents and younger brother Gabriel in a San Juan restaurant. Pedro Julio Serrano of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Guillermo Chacon of the Latino Commission on AIDS, Jorge Cestou of the Chicago-based Association of Latino Men of Action and New York activist Karlo Colon also traveled with the delegation. "There wasn’t a dry eye in the restaurant when [Miriam Mercado] spoke," Quinn told EDGE.

New York City Councilmembers Melissa Mark-Viverito, Danny Dromm, Jimmy Van Bramer and Rosie Mendez also traveled to Puerto Rico. Members of the Association of Latino Men for Action gave Miriam Mercado and Jorge López more than $2,100 they raised at a New York fundraiser last week so they could cover some of their murdered son’s funeral costs... Cestou, who is also a co-chair of the national LGBT Latino organization Unid@s, added, however, it was important for him and fellow ALMA members to show their solidarity with the family. "It was definitely extremely powerful," he said.

In addition to the family, the delegation also met with Puerto Rican legislators, LGBT activists and clergy. Noticeably absent from the itinerary: Republican Gov. Luis Fortuño who resisted efforts to prosecute the case a hate crime. Fortuño has yet to publicly comment on the López case but within the past two weeks has called for a constitutional marriage ban against same-sex marriage.

Juan A. Martínez Matos has confessed to stabbing, decapitating, dismembering and partially burning the 19-year-old López. Martínez has been found competent to stand trial.

The images above via Windy City Times from the Chicago vigil. It began with a peace walk at the corner of Division and California, and ended with a candlelight vigil in Humboldt Park Boat House. About two hundred people showed up, including several local aldermen and the city's major Latino LGBT activists. The weather was decent and it was great to see many young people participating.

Meanwhile in New York City: An estimated 2,000 braved the chilly weather to gather at the Christopher Street Pier to honor the memory of murdered gay teen. Council Speaker Christine Quinn, GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios, openly gay Council member-elect Danny Dromm and Project Runway fashion designer Malan Breton spoke to the crowd. The New York City photos are via JoeMyGod.

There were 20 nationwide events. Some attending the rallies also carried signs remembering Jason Mattison, who was killed in Baltimore the same week that Mercado was slain in Puerto Rico.